Cloth-measuring machine



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Skeet 1. 0. B. SHAW.

' CLOTH MEASURING MACHINE.

No. 276,722. 2 Patented May 1,1883.

mmi null (No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2. v

0. B. SHAW."

GLOTH MEASURING MACHINE. No. 276,722. Patented May 1,1883.

UNITED STATES PATENT .OFFIGE.

CHARLES E. SHAW, OF MALDEN, MASSACHUSETTS.

jCLOTH-MEASURING MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 276,722, dated May -1, 1883. Application filed June 16,1882. X model.)

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, CHARLES E. SHAW, of Malden, county of Middlesex, State of Massachusetts, have inventedan Improvement in Cloth-Measuring Machines, ofwhioh the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification.

My invention has for its object the production of an eificient machine for measuring cloth, and also, if desired, removing from it its selvage edges.

In manufacturingestablishments usinglarge quantities of cloth it is very desirable to inspect the cloth carefullyan d remeasn re the same before given into the hands of the cutters, and while the selvage edges are torn oh". To accomplish this object I have devised a machine containing a suspension-roller, over which the cloth is laid and led between feeding-rollers, which hold the cloth distended, so that it may be examined. From the feeding-rollers the cloth passes over a measuring-roller and be tween it and a pressure roller or rollers. I have provided the machine with selvage-tearing rollers, which, the ends of the selvage strips being started between them, act to tear the selvages from the cloth.

Figure 1 represents in a front side elevation a cloth-measuring machine embodying my in: vention; Fig. 2, a detail of the measuring devices, and Fig. 3 a vertical section of Fig. l on the dotted line w a.

The frame-work A, of suitable shape to hold the working parts, has at its rear side a yokeframe, B, provided with uprights to serve as bearings for the journals of a suitable plate or board, a, which is extended through the center of the roll, especially if of double-width cloth, as shown at O. The outer end of the cloth, taken from the said roll and unfolded, is passed over the sustaining-roller b at the topot' the machine, and led down in front of the rollers all, under the tension-roller e, and then up over the measuring-roller f. Each roller 0 dfhas a portion of its surface covered, as at g g, with an abrasive material-such as sand or emery or sand-paper--the said surface being suflicientl y rough to cause the cloth or material to be kept pressed in contact with it by other yielding rollers to be described, to travel at the same speed as do the rollers c d e.

beam It.

ably elastic surfaces and having theirjournals held in spring-arms h attached to 'thecross- The roller 0 and small rollers h constitute the selvage tearing or removing devices; In case the cloth was of single width the surface g with suitable rollers opposed to it, would co-operate with one selvage,t.wo

single-width pieces of cloth being simultaneously examined and measured and having their selvages removed. The main part of the cloth does not touch the roller 0, but extendsfrom the sustaining-roller over the edge of the cloth-support i, made as .a beam, more or less inclined, the upperedge of which is-so located with relation to the'feeding-rollers d as to prevent the cloth falling back on the top of the said roller.

The roller cl, composing one of the feedingroller s, has in front of it the small rollers m, having preferably elastic surfaces, and having theirjournals in headsm adjustablyconnected with the springs m which latter act to cause the said rollers an to keep the body of' the cloth pressed against the rough surfaces g of the roller 01 to feed the cloth through the machine. The cloth will be drawn in one direction by rollers at in, and the selvages in the opposite direction by the rollers c h, which cause the selvages to be torn from the cloth. The selvage is shown at 0, Fig.3; The heads m are made adjustable on their spring carrying arms or supports by screws m so that the axis of each roller m may be more or less inclined with relation to the axis of roller d, to thereby act to draw and stretch the cloth in the direction of its width, as operate the temple-rollers in looms.

Instead of supporting the journals of rollers h m in spring-arms, the heads holding the said journals might have shanks extended through guides, the said shanks being provided with springs in any usual manner. In other words, instead of supporting the rollers It and min yielding manner in the exact manner herein shown, I may support them in a yielding manner by any other well-known devices than the arms 11. m

The cross-piece n bears on the cloth below the feedin g-roller d,forcin gthe cloth backward, so as to cause a greater length of cloth to bear against the rough surface g. This cross-piece it might be adjustable. The end pieces, 7, of the tension-rollereenter guideways formed between the frame and pieces of metal 6 The main driving-belt p of the machine is passed about a pulley, p, on shaft of roller 0, and roller d is driven in a reverse direction by the crossed belt 19 extended over pulley p on shaft of roller 0 and pulley p on shaft of roller d. The shaft of roller d has a screw pulley,p which receives belt 12 extended over pulley p on the shaft of the measuring-roller], the latter having at its other end a bevel-gear,f which engages a bevel-gear, f, on a shaft, f having a worm,f that engages a worm gear, j, on a stud, f, with which is connected a pointer, f",totravel about thedialfhnumbered or figured to designate yards.

I do not desire to limit my nvention to the exact devices shown and described'for turning the pointer f (shown in Fig.1 and partially in Fig. 2,) as instead of the said devices I may employ any usual counting mechanism commonly used in cloth-measuring machines.

The cloth is kept pressed against the rough surfaces of the measuring-roller by the pressurerollers r on a rod, 7*, held in arms a, pivoted at r on a rigid part. of the frame-work. When the cloth is being passed over roller fthe rod 7' will be caught in the hook 12. The doublewidth cloth 0 is unfolded between the point where it leaves the roll of cloth and its arrival on the rest 8 at the rear of the roller b.

If the cloth be of single width, the holdingbar If will be employed. To apply a singlewidth web to the bar If the bolt of cloth will be held in place just below the bar, the outer end of the cloth will be passed up over the bar on one side and down on its other side, and

v thence under the bolt of cloth, and thence up above the roller 1) and down in the course the feed-rollers d m.

shown by cloth 0. In this way it will be understood that a loop in the cloth itself, below the bar t, holds the web of cloth, which is gradually unrolled as the cloth is drawn by The yoke B is set so as to keep the roll of cloth 0 and the journals of the shaft or board holding it at right angles to the rollers c d.

I do not herein broadly claim the selvagetearing apparatus of itself, as it will form the subject-matterof a future application for Letters Patent of the United States.

I claim- 1. The roll b, roller (1, having a roughened surface, means to move it, and spring-pressed rollers m to hold the cloth against the roller d, as described, combined with the measuring-- roller, means to move it, a dial and pointer, and intermediate mechanism operated by the said measuring-roller to actuatethe pointer, all constructed and arranged substantially as described.

2. In a cloth-measuring machine, the roughsurfaced roller 01 and means to rotate it, combined with the yielding rollers m m and means to support and adjust the same to place the axes of the said rollers m at an inclination to the axis of the roller d,whereby the rollers act to stretch the cloth in the direction of its width, substantially as described. j

3. In a cloth-measuring machine, the combination of the following instrumentalities, viz: a cloth-measuringroller,fi means between it and the pointerto move the latter, feedingrollers 61 m, selvage-tearing rollers c h, and cloth-sustaining roll 0, and means to rotate the rollers c dfpositively, substantially as and for the purposes set forth. 4

In testimony whereofI have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing'witnesses.

CHARLES B. SHAW.

Witnesses:

'G. W. GREGORY,

B. J. NoYEs. 

